Thoughts from the Ledge on horror director Roman Polanski

The Tenant Courtesy of Marianne Productions

The Tenant (1976)

This is another of the director’s efforts that I saw back in the day. If you are a fan of Hitchcock or psychological horror in general, I cannot recommend this film enough. Once again, with a script written by Polanski and his partner Brach, the director portrays the lead character, Trelkovsky.

Trelkovsky is an administrator. He lives in an apartment where the previous tenant, Simone tried to commit suicide by jumping out the window. For some reason, he goes to visit her in the hospital. There he meets her friend Stella (Isabelle Adjani).

They attempt to have a relationship. Meanwhile, he is finding life is becoming increasingly difficult for him because he is at odds with his neighbors. The apartment landlord and the concierge openly disdain him and the other residents aren’t very hospitable as well.

It seems like everyone is out to get him. His paranoia increasing and his obsession with the previous tenant on the rise, he ends up isolating himself from the outside world. Not to mention he now has developed a penchant for wearing Simone’s dress that he found hidden in the apartment.

Events escalate culminating in him attempting suicide by jumping out his apartment window. I won’t spoil the ending because it is one that needs to be seen to be believed. This film stuck with me for weeks after I saw it. That is the power of great filmmaking.

I actually thought that maybe I didn’t get the plot or that Trelkovsky’s neighbors were in collusion with one another. Trust me, after viewing this movie you won’t know what to believe.